How To Count Your Indonesian House Water Bill
Indonesian water supply is supervised by the local government. Learn how to estimate your water usage in this article.
Your Indonesian house water supply is managed by PDAM (Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum) as the regional business unit (Badan Usaha Milik Daerah) that provides and distributes clean water to the general public and usually have a dedicated office that operates in different areas.
PDAM is located in almost every municipality, district, and province throughout Indonesia. Though there are several Drinking Water Companies (PAM) that are not owned by the Regional Government or owned by private parties such as AETRA and PALYJA. As a means of providing clean water for the community, the PDAM is supervised by the government’s executive and legislative institution in its operations. Thus, payments and bills between regions may have different procedures.
To avoid a sudden increase in your water bills, you need to know how to count the estimation of your water usage. Here is how!
1. Learn to read PDAM indicator
Before getting to know your house’s water price, you need to learn how to read your water indicator. One of the most commonly used indicators is the mechanical indicator that has two sets of numbers in black and red. The numbers in black count the water usage in m3 which indicates your bill calculation, while the number in red is a measuring tool to show the litter unit of water used.
2. Get to know your tariff
As mentioned above, different areas give different tariffs. In addition, the type of your building also affects the amount. For example, the water bill for a single household building will cost significantly lower than an office building or an apartment.
For example, in Jakarta the water tariff for a single household falls under K III A category with the 2A2 tariff code which has the following tariff per water usage (progressive):
- 0-10 m3 = IDR 4,900
- 11-20 m3 = IDR 6,000
- 20 m3 = IDR 7,450
- To know the water tariff in your area, you first need to know the supplier company and check their website.
3. Counting your water bill
After learning how to read the indicator, we can now proceed to count our water bill by simply multiplying the tariff with your monthly water usage and adding the indicator maintenance cost and official stamp.
For example, this month you are using 20 m3 water for your single household (2A2). Therefore, your water bill for this month will be;
- Water usage fee: 20 m3 x IDR 7,450 = IDR 149,000
- Indicator maintenance fee (subjected to the area and building size): IDR 4,400
- Tax: IDR 1,195
- Stamp fee: IDR 3,000
- Total: IDR 157,595
Of course, you can also check your water bill online. There are several platforms, other than the official websites, that allow you to check your water bill online.
4. Paying your Indonesian house water bill
As there are platforms where you can check your water bill online, there are also platforms to pay them online. You can use your mobile banking as most Indonesian bank service allows their users to pay bills online, and not only limited to water bills but also other bills such as electricity bill.
Another option for online payment is using other mobile applications such as Tokopedia, Gojek, Grab, Traveloka, etc. that allows you to not only use their service but also pay bills online.
If you do not own mobile banking or are unable to use other applications, you can pay offline through the nearest minimart or convenience store. You can either pay at the cashier or use the available ATM machines.
Once you know the amount you have to pay for standard water usage, you can try to estimate the price yourself since the tariff for water bills is stable and will not change much in a year.
